TOTTEX-TOURGEE. 



689 



red hue. It dwells only in the Delaware and Susque- 

 hanna and the rivers of Chesapeake Bay. The flesh 

 is very palatable, and it is gathered in considerable 

 numbers for market, being largely substituted for the 

 diamond-back in restaurants. 



Yet more esteemed is the yellow-bellied terrapin, 

 P. scabra, which is found in stagnant ponds from 

 Virginia to Florida, and is abundant in the latitude of 

 Charleston. It is about 12 ins. long, 7i wide, and 

 1 1 high, the upper shell being very convex, and deeply 

 serrated behind. It is of blackish-brown hue, with 

 radiating yellow lines and marks, the sternum being 

 yellow. These species feed on small reptiles, fish, etc., 

 and will eat vegetable food in captivity. Out of water they 

 move more quickly than the land-turtles. Fart her south 

 occurs another species of value, the Mobilianer (P. 

 MoliHtenxix). This is the largest of the food species, the 

 chell being often 14 to 16 ins. long by 10 wide, and 

 7J high. In color it is brownish, with yellow lines 

 and bands, while the sternum is pale yellow. It is 

 found in lakes and rivers from North Carolina to 

 Western Louisiana, and up the Mississippi to Arkansas, 

 and i.s very abundant in hast Florida, especially in the 

 Si. John's River. The flesh is quite delicate, and is 

 inii"h esteemed in the Southern cities. 



The chicken terrapin, Cltryxe.n>>ix rilinilitu, is about 

 '.' by ."> in. in dimensions, the color of its upper shell 

 l-iirL' dark brown with a network of yellow lines, that 

 of the lower yellow. Its long neck, as it swims with 

 liody hid and head extended, presents a snake-like ap- 

 pearance. It occurs from North Carolina to I/outturn, 

 ami is the most esteemed of the fresh-water terrapins. 

 ( '. picta, a somewhat smaller species, is also valued as 



foO'I. 



( Hlier species of tortoises are used as food in the 

 I nited States. Of marine tortoises the only species 

 of value is Chdimia viritlu, the green turtle, which 

 is used extensively as the basis of turtle soup. The 

 Pacific coast has a related species, C. virgtita. Of 

 what are known as soft-shelled tortoises tile United 

 States has 6 species, belonging to 2 genera, which differ 

 in length from 6 in. to 2 ft. or more, and in weight 

 from 4 to 1 6 Ibs. These occur in most of our lakes 

 and rivers, from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, 

 and are easily taken by hook and line, as they bite 

 greedily. Their flesh is a superior article of food, sur- 

 pas.-ing in delicacy, it is said, the green turtle. Their 

 eggs also are considered excellent. 



Of the snapping turtles there are two species, be- 

 longing to different genera. The northern species. 

 ( '/irfi/ili-H xirjii-nfiiiii, is widely distributed, and is 

 largely taken for food purposes. Its maximum weight 

 i- J" to 30 Ibs. The Southern species, known as the 

 allocator turtle, weighs 50 or 60 Ibs. and in extreme 

 weight 100 Ibs. It is spoken of very highly as a food 

 species, some stating that it is more delicate than the 

 green turtle, thougn this is doubtful. The gopher, 

 flie great land-turtle of the South, is also i; 

 some extent as food. This species is 15 in. long and 

 is so strong that it can move under a weight of 200 

 Ibs. It lives in underground burrows in the sand; 7 

 forests of the Gulf States. Even the little "box 

 turtle," the familiar inmate of our fields and gardens, 

 is occasionally eaten, and is said to be quite palatable 

 when fat. (C. M ) 



TOTTKN'. JOSKPII GILBERT (1 788-1 s<H). chief- 

 eiiL-iiieer I". S. A., was tnirn at New Haven, Conn., 

 Air-'. 2:;, 1788. Be graduated at West Point in 1803, 

 and being commissioned second-lieutenant in the en- 

 gineers' corps went as assistant to his uncle, Jared 

 Mansfield, surveyor-general of Ohio. Although he 

 r>--iinied from the army he soon returned and was en- 

 g.-i'/ed in the construction of forts in New York har- 

 Uir until the commencement of the war of IS] 2. Then 

 he was made chief-engineer of the army on the Ni- 

 agara frontier and fought at Queenstown. Afterwards 

 he nerved at Lake Champlain and was brevetted lieu- 

 tenant-colonel for his gallantry at the battle of Platts- 



| burg. In 1816 a Board of Engineers was formed to 

 devise a system of coast defence, and in connection 

 with this work Totten rendered most important service 

 to his country. In 1819, when Gen. Simon Bernard 

 was brought from France to give the benefit of his 

 long experience in this branch, of warfare, the other 

 members of the board resigned, but Major Totten 

 continued, and the reports prepared on harbor and 

 coast defence were mostly from his pen. In 1825 Tot- 

 ten (now brevet colonel) began the construction of 

 Fort Adams at Newport and was thus engaged for 

 thirteen years. In 1831 Gen. Bernard retired and 

 Totten had charge of the harbor defences east of New 

 York. In 1838 he published Hydraulic and Common 

 Mjirturx, giving the result of many experiments by 

 himself and others. Tn the same year he was made 

 chief-engineer with the rank of colonel, and removed 

 to Washington. He continued to carry out his plans 

 of coast defence until 1S47, when he was called by Gen. 

 Winfield Scott to take charge of the engineering oper- 

 ations in the siege of Vera Crnz. After the capture 

 of the city he returned to Washington, having ob- 

 tained the brevet of brigadier-general for his services. 

 Besides his office work at Washington, he made a 

 biennial tcmr of inspection, examining every detail of 

 construction in the forts and other defences. He was 

 also a member of the Light-House Board from its or- 

 ganization in 1S.">2. and was actively connected with 

 various scientific associations. When Gen. Scott was 

 obliged to retire from the chief command of the army, 

 he suggested Gen. Totten as his successor, but the 

 latter declined on account of his own advanced age. 

 He died at Washington, April 22, 18C4, having re- 

 ceived a brevet as major-general on the previous day. 

 Among his Repnrtt may be mentioned those on Na- 

 t tonal Defences (\$!>\) and Ordnance (\9ib7). Although 

 the fortifications to whose construction his energies 

 were given have been proved insufficient owing to the 

 vast changes in ordnance, there has been no system 

 devised to take their place which meets universal ap- 

 proval. 



TOURGEE, ALBION WINEOAR, author, was born 

 at Williamsficld , Ohio, May 2, 1 838. He prepared for 

 college at Kingsville Academy and entered Roches- 

 ter University as sophomore in 1859. He was one of 

 the first to volunteer for service in the Union army, 

 enlisting April 17, J8fil, as a private in the Twenty- 

 seventh N. Y. volunteers. He was wounded at the first 

 battle of Bull Run and discharged, but the following 

 year was commissioned first-lieutenant, by Gov. Tod, 

 of Ohio, and recruited Company G, One-hundred-and- 

 fifth Ohio V. I. He resigned his commission in 18(14 

 on account of wounds and disease contracted in Sulis- 

 burv and Libby prisons. He was married to Emma 

 L. rvilbourne, of Conncaut, Ohio, in 18C3, and at the 

 close of the war settled in Greensbcro, N. C., as lawyer 

 and editor. He was a delegate to the Southern Loyal- 

 ist Convention held in Philadelphia in 186fi, and was a 

 member of the committee that drew up the report on 

 the condition of the Southern States. He was elected 

 to the constitutional convention of North Carolina in 

 1868, and took so prominent a part in this body that 

 the constitution then prepared is often called " Tour- 

 gee's constitution." lie was appointed by this con- 

 vention one of the three commissioners to codify the 

 laws of the Slate. He was elected judge of the Su- 

 perior Court in 1808, which office he held until the ex- 

 piration of his term in 1874. He was alto a member 

 >f the State constitutional convention of 1875. He 

 is the author of the N.C'.Form Bwk ; Tl,r. N.C.Cmlf. 

 with Nri/rx, and a I/ii/mt of died C'isc*. Besides 

 these legal works he is the author of the following 

 works of fiction : Sm'iirtfe (1874 ; in later editions A 

 Royal Gentleman); Firjx and Tln'tttf* (1879), a ro- 

 mance partly founded on Pres. Garfield's army career ; 

 A Fours Errand (1879), a work that attracted much 

 attention and has been translated into several lan- 

 guages. It is a graphic exposure of the difficulties 



